


everything stays (but it still changes)

by ObscureReference



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Aliens, Alternate Universe - Children, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Wings, Braces, Disabled Character, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-30
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-03-11 16:10:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13527855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ObscureReference/pseuds/ObscureReference
Summary: “Odin,” Leo said, cutting off his retainer’s speech. “Under any other circumstances, do you think we would have met?”“Of course!” Odin said with zero hesitation. “Neither the sun or the moon, nor any kingdom’s army, could keep me from you in any world. Our meeting was written in the constellations.”Leo hummed. Those were bold words. “And do you think we would have gotten along? If I wasn’t a prince and you weren’t my retainer?”





	everything stays (but it still changes)

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know if I have a particular style of writing or trope I often fall back on, but this is definitely exemplary of a type of fic I fall back on a lot; that is, the type of fic where I jump from AU to AU writing only the scenes I want and then skipping to the next world so I don't have to write a long, drawn out fic with a single plot I have to coherently finish, lol. I hope you guys enjoy this anyway! Thanks for reading!
> 
> Title taken from one of my favorite songs: "Everything Stays" by Rebecca Sugar

_It wasn’t often Leo let his mind wander from the here and now, but something had been nagging at his thoughts lately, childish as it was._

_He hadn’t written anything in several long minutes, so he set his pen to the side. The words on the page had begun to blur together._

_Odin looked away from the window. “Taking a rest, my lord? It’s a wonderful day outside if you’d like to stretch your legs, lest your muscles later mutiny.”_

_The corner of Leo’s mouth twitched upward into a smile._

_“All right,” he said. His smile widened at Odin’s obvious surprise. “Even I can admit the merits of a good break every now and again.”_

_Odin shook off his surprise. He stepped away from the window, seemingly intent on ushering Leo out of his room before he changed his mind._

_“Quite! You always know best, milord! What shall we do then? Perhaps there are some dastardly fiends lurking outside the castle walls, waiting for daring heroes such as ourselves to stumble upon them and exchange blows? Or—”_

_Leo stood up and stretched. There was an ache in his neck he’d have to take care of with a hot bath later unless he wanted to wake up cramping tomorrow._

_The same question was still nagging at the back of his mind, and he was relaxed enough to consider asking it._

_“Odin,” Leo said, cutting off his retainer’s speech. “Under any other circumstances, do you think we would have met?”_

_“Of course!” Odin said with zero hesitation. “Neither the sun or the moon, nor any kingdom’s army, could keep me from you in any world. Our meeting was written in the constellations.”_

_Leo hummed. Those were bold words. “And do you think we would have gotten along? If I wasn’t a prince and you weren’t my retainer?”_

 

*

 

Leo is seven years old and seriously considering running away from home.

Not that he’d ever do it. He’s old enough to know that he has no plan and that there’s no escaping his father’s grasp. Maybe, if he were big like Xander or charming like Camilla or if people doted over him more like Corrin or Elise—or maybe it’s better that he’s Leo who blends into the background, Leo who can take care of himself, but still—

Still, he knows he’d never get anywhere, and he knows it’s a bad idea. He could never leave his siblings behind, anyway. So it’s not like he’ll actually _do_ it.

That doesn’t mean he can’t sit at the end of the street and consider it, though. Leo can be very serious when he wants to be. Camilla says he is serious most of the time. Maybe that’s just who Leo is.

He sighs and slouches even further down, cheek in his palm. Father or Xander or Camilla would tell him to sit up straighter. For once, Leo doesn’t listen.

Sometimes it’s very stifling at home. Camilla and Xander leave wide shadows behind them, and as much as Leo loves Father, the man didn’t make himself any easier to live with. Sometimes Leo thinks it would be better if he were alone with a book forever. The thought also makes Leo’s stomach do gross flips, but he pretends to ignore that part. Sometimes being alone is fine, he thinks.

He’s halfway through imagining a world where everything is the same except Leo is bigger and Father is gone (or maybe even nicer, like he used to be, but that seems like too much of a miracle for even daydreams) when a scruffy looking kid steps up to him.

Leo can’t keep himself from jumping. Camilla is always telling him he gets too lost in his own thoughts. He doesn’t like to admit it, though, even when this stranger catches him by surprise.

The scruffy looking kid in front of Leo can’t be much older than he is, but with Leo’s butt still planted firmly on the curb, he looks much, much taller. He’s holding a soccer ball under one arm, and when he opens his mouth to speak, Leo can see two teeth are missing—one on the bottom and one on the top. Half a tooth has already grown back in the bottom gap, but the kid’s top gap is all gums.

“Are you okay?” the boy asks. “You look sad.”

It’s blunt enough to make Leo feel uneasy. Leo, despite himself, pulls up his legs and curls around them.

For some reason, the boy takes this as a sign to continue rather than leave like Leo mentally wills him to do.

“Do you live around here? I’ve never seen you before.” Suddenly he gasps, so animatedly that he nearly drops the soccer ball under his arm, and Leo is intrigued despite himself. “Are you lost? It’s okay, don’t worry! I’m Owain, Helper Of Those That Need… Help! And I’ll help you!”

The boy moves like he’s not sure what he wants to do with his hands. He drops his soccer ball. It goes rolling down the street, and Leo watches curiously as the boy goes diving after it. The strange boy—Owain—comes back a moment later with a sheepish expression and a new scrape.

Xander is always telling him not to talk to strangers. Maybe he didn’t mean kids Leo’s age, but Owain looks exactly like the type of person Father would disapprove of.

Maybe it’s that—some kind of misplaced rebellion—that allows Leo to find the courage to straighten his back, wrinkle his nose and say, “What are you talking about?”

“Uh…” Owain’s eyes dart down the street and back. His voice changes. “My friend Brady and I are gonna play soccer. Do you want to come?”

Leo knows enough to know this kid is just offering to play because Leo looks like a sad, lost baby, and he’s in enough of a mood to have half a mind to reject.

But it’s been a long time since someone Leo didn’t already know has spoken to him, and he likes the change.

“Okay,” Leo says, a little hesitant. He takes the hand offered to him, and he’s a little surprised to find he’s almost taller than Owain when they’re standing face to face. He was sure Owain was older than him at first. “Why were you talking like that?”

Owain shrugs, looking at his shoes. “I don’t know. It’s fun?”

It comes out like a question, and Owain looks like he’s waiting on Leo to say more. Leo doesn’t, and after a moment, Owain asks, “What’s your name?”

“Leo.”

“Okay. I’m Owain!”

“Yeah, you told me.”

For a second Leo thinks that’s too mean—too _blunt_ , Xander would say—but Owain only peers at him. Leo nearly stumbles back, squirming inside from so much attention.

Finally, Owain says, “Is your shirt inside out?”

Leo feels his face heat up. Owain laughs and bounces the ball on his foot.

“Come on,” he says. “Brady’s waiting on me.”

Leo quickly learns that everything rolls off Owain like water off a duck’s back. He teases Leo but moves on fast enough, and when Leo huffs and teeters on the edge of too rude, Owain only frowns. The look alone is enough to remind Leo to reel himself in. In return, when Owain suggests playing his imaginary magic game, Leo gives it a shot. He feels stupid playing it, but Owain smiles like he’s never had a better time in his life. It makes Leo feel better instead of worse for a change.

After a while, Leo stops wishing he could be alone. He likes talking with Owain, and with somewhere else to go besides the curb when everything is too much, Leo starts to like talking with his family more too.

 

*

 

Later, Leo hesitantly asks, “May I ask how you feel about… wings?”

“Of course,” Odin says. He wonders if there will be a follow-up question.

Leo waits, expectant.

So Odin says, “Your wings are magnificent, my lord. No other’s plumage is as radiant and golden as yours, no—"

Leo frowns. Odin stops.

“No, that’s not what I mean.” Leo shakes his head. “I mean, do you ever find yourself envious? Not of myself, but of the fact everyone has wings except…”

_Except for you three_ , goes unsaid. Leo looks almost abashed at having even asked.

“Not at all,” Odin says, because it has never occurred to him to be jealous of such a thing. At least, not seriously. He knows as well as anyone the burden of a birthright. “Where I’m from…” He wonders if he should even be saying this, but he can’t stop there. “Where I’m from, nobody has wings. I am awed that the people of Nohr do and am admittedly curious about what that’s like. But if I were meant to have wings, I would have been born with them.”

Leo’s wings twitch like they know Odin is talking about them. It’s a habit Leo hates, even if he doesn’t say as much. His feathers really are golden, just a shade paler than Xander’s.

Leo tilts his chin up. “So you wouldn’t want them even if they were advantageous to have? Like in battle, for example.”

Odin wonders if he’s done something to imply otherwise. He doesn’t think so.

“The Pegasus Knights specialize in airborne support,” he says, a fact Leo knows well. “I’m fine as I am on the ground. I have enough limbs to keep track of already anyway.”

The thought of being so high up in the air sends shivers down his spine. He means it when he says he’d rather stay close to the earth.

Besides, Odin likes the way he’s shaped. He grew this body himself.

Leo nods like this means something, and then that’s the end of wing questions for the day.

That night, Odin wakes to feel Leo’s hands drifting up and down his bare back. He pretends to sleep and focuses on the feel of Leo’s hands traveling up through the dip between his shoulder blades, lingering on the bare patch of skin where Odin’s wings may have been, had he been born in Nohr or in this world at all.

The mattress dips slightly when Leo kisses Odin’s shoulder. He doesn’t rub Odin’s back any more after that, but he keeps his hand where it is, a comforting heat in the center of Odin’s back. Odin drifts off to sleep.

 

*

 

Anakos falls in a way Leo would almost consider anticlimactic if not for the rush of relief he feels immediately afterward; one moment the dragon—or what is left of him—is there, pulsing, gross, dangerous, and the next moment, in a blinding flash of light, he is gone. Leo has to squeeze his eyes shut when the light hits, but when he opens them again, the battlefield is empty. The Vallite soldiers are gone. Anakos is missing, and the two united kingdoms are triumphant.

Corrin stands victorious at the center of it all, but it’s Camilla’s shocked cry of, “Selena, _what_ have you done to yourself?” that has Leo turning his head.

Atop his horse, Leo is tall enough to see over the heads of most soldiers, and with Camilla on her wyvern, it’s no problem to find his sister in the chaos. She’s not looking back at Leo, however. She’s looking at the woman next to her, a woman who is clutching the ends of her dark hair like she’s seeing it for the first time. Leo frowns. He would be tempted to believe the woman is Selena from the shape of her alone if not for the change of hair and the unusual armor. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen armor like that in Nohr or Hoshido.

Leo’s too far away to hear what she’s saying, but he sees Camilla’s mouth moving. He squints. Whatever Camilla sees, he doesn’t.

He doesn’t get it until he hears the gasp. Leo looks down.

He blinks.

It takes a moment, with the haze of the battle and the adrenaline in Leo’s veins slowly fading, to register the person he’s looking at is _Odin_. Odin, whose hair is dark and whose clothes seem to have been replaced with something more suited to the Ice Tribe, or at least somebody living in freezing temperatures. He doesn’t look like the man Leo has grown to know over the past few years, but in a way, he still does.

Odin’s fingers play with the fluffy edge of his sleeve like he can’t believe what he’s seeing either. Leo clears his throat.

“Well,” Odin says, sheepishly looking up to meet Leo’s eye. That’s all he says for a moment, and Leo stares.

Leo’s horse stomps its foot with agitation, startling them both.

Odin coughs. “I suppose you’ll want my real name as well.”

The idea of Odin’s name being a pseudonym has crossed Leo’s mind before, of course. The thought and the implications behind it sends Leo’s heart pounding some days. But Leo has always said he didn’t care about the past, and that’s still true. Odin is free to go by whatever he chooses.

After a moment, Leo says, “If you want.”

Odin must catch the hesitation in his voice because he smiles up at Leo, looking suddenly sure of himself.

“I think you deserve it,” Odin says. “And I’m not sure there’s any point in hiding anymore.”

Then he says, “My name is Owain.”

And Leo’s world shifts.

There’s a flash of light, and a red sigil appears in the air between them. Leo, entranced by the swirl of magic and symbols he can’t read, both is and isn’t surprised. It’s gone in an instant, and Leo is left staring back at Odin’s—Owain’s—wide eyes as the burn of old magic settles into his skin. It’s a burn that curves over Leo’s shoulder and digs into his upper arm. He doesn’t have to tug his armor off to know the magic curls into the shape of a name, now forever etched into Leo’s skin.

Others must be staring, but Leo only has eyes for Owain.

Owain, who he’d always known as Odin. Who has always been Leo’s soulmate, apparently.

There’s… a lot to process there.

The first words out of Leo’s mouth are, “Did you know?”

He doesn’t have to know everything. There are things Odin—Owain—has always kept secret, and Leo won’t take that away from him. But he has to know this.

“Know what?” Owain asks, looking startled. “Are you okay? What was that?”

Leo means to say “Did you know you were my soulmate?” But judging by Owain’s reaction, he gets the feeling the answer is no.

There’s a chance that Owain, mysterious as he is, doesn’t know what’s happened. That doesn’t understand that by speaking his true name aloud to Leo for the first time, his name has now been engraved into Leo’s skin forever. Because they’re soulmates. There’s a possibility Owain doesn’t understand any of that at all.

Leo breathes in.

A lot to process, indeed.

 

*

 

“Once upon a time,” Leo reads quietly. “in a far-off kingdom, there lived a fair maiden, a sad young lad, and a childless baker with his wife.”

Owain dozes. On his chest, Forrest dozes as well, which is a miracle and a half. Owain’s eyes aren’t open, but he thinks if Ophelia were making a fuss on Leo’s lap, he’d hear it. As it is, the twins finally seem to be quieting down.

Leo is reading the start of one of Owain’s favorite books, but it was the second book he’d picked up in an hour. Leo had finished the first book only a moment ago, but as soon as he’d finished speaking, Ophelia and Forrest had begun to squirm in their laps. Owain had nearly made up a story on the spot in a panic to sate them, but before he could, Leo had calmly reached out and pulled a thick tomb off the shelf. 

Now, Owain dozes, teetering on the edge of sleep.

He loves his children, but he’d be lying if he ever said they aren’t exhausting. Whenever he brings it up, his mother laughs and tells him it’s a taste of his own medicine. Leo usually stares at him as though it’s somehow Owain’s fault; that’s the moment Owain usually points out that they’re Leo’s children as well. Leo only ever shakes his head at that.

“I wish, they said,” Leo reads, voice soft. “More than anything. More than life. More than riches. More than the moon.”

Owain’s hand rests on Forrest’s back, practically covering Forrest whole, keeping him from sliding off Owain’s chest. If he felt so much as a shift from Forrest, he’d be sitting up in a split second, but as it is Forrest only snuffles every now and again and rises and falls in tandem with their breathing.

Dimly, Owain feels a hand brush a few strands of hair away from his forehead. He’s not asleep, not really, and he won’t fall asleep until Ophelia and Forrest are back in their cribs. But oh, how he could. Leo’s fingertips grazing his skin pulls him back to reality, however. Owain squints through his eyelashes and sees the Leo’s dark silhouette, just a little blurry against the window.

“The king is throwing a festival, the maiden cried,” Leo reads. Ophelia sighs. Forrest sighs back like an echo. “I wish to go to the festival.”

Forrest and Ophelia doze.

 

*

 

Odin fell from the sky like a shooting star.

Leo knew this was true because he watched Odin fall.

When Niles finds all this out later, he turns to Odin and says, “So you really are an alien?” and laughs and laughs and laughs.

 

 

“Greetings!” the alien says, sitting in a crater the size of a car and looking remarkably human. “I am… new in town! My name is—”

“You fell from the sky,” Leo says.

The alien falters. There is dirt on his face. He has yet to stand up from the crater.

Eventually, he looks at the stars and yes, “Yes, I suppose I did.”

Leo, crouched on the lip of the crater, considers this. He can not have been the only one to see the glowing, person-shaped object fall from the sky. If Leo, currently panting and having only tripped twice in his sprint through the dark to find the star he thought had landed just beyond his backyard, had found the alien within minutes, other people with equipment that Leo lacked—like flashlights—will arrive soon too.

“Do you want to come with me,” Leo offers. “or do you want to end up in a lab?” He wonders if the alien has any concept of humanity at all.

The alien blinks up at him. “A lab for what?”

Leo stands.

 

 

“Where did you find this guy?” Niles asks, eyeing Odin (“ _The alien!!!”_ Leo’s mind screams) warily as Odin examines each and every object in Leo’s room with much more gravity than pencils and pillowcases deserve. It is now morning. Leo hasn’t slept a wink.

“He was a shooting star,” Leo answers blandly. The bags under his eyes must have been visible.

Niles’ eyebrows shoot even higher. “Surprisingly poetic.” Out of the corner of Leo’s eye, Odin accidentally fumbles with the pencil sharpener and drops it with a clatter. They both ignored it. “But seriously, where is he from?”

Leo sighs and tossed his phone aside, the search bar at the top empty. He isn’t sure what else to type besides _“What to do with an alien”_ or _“How to hide an alien in your home”_ anyway, and typing either of those would be a give-away for sure.

“No, seriously,” Leo repeats. “He fell from the sky.”

 

 

They take Niles to the crater. Somehow, nobody else is around. There isn’t even any caution tape warding people away from the crater. Leo is too tired to care much.

“Behold!” Odin the alien cries upon approach. “The mark of my arrival!”

Leo grunts. Niles stares.

Leo feels more than sees Niles’ side-eye. He is much too tired for this.

“Niles,” Leo says. “More than any truth I have ever told you, I am telling you now I saw him fall with my own eyes.” He kicks a clump of dirt over the edge of the crater. “What you’re seeing is the truth.”

There is a pause as Niles processes this. Leo waits.

“Okay,” Niles says, and it’s as simple as that. He turns to Odin. “So you really are an alien?”

And before Odin could answer, he laughs.

 

 

It turns out, given a little time to adjust, acclimating an alien to human life is not nearly as difficult as Leo expects.

Odin seems to understand toasters fairly quickly, but it takes Leo an extra day or so to get over his peculiar manner of speech.

It’s a work in progress for them all.

Leo has time, though. And patience. And thankfully enough, he finds Odin is full of endless surprises and even after Leo begins to run out of things to show him, Odin never stops being fascinating.

 

*

 

_The place I grew up was full of snow,_ Odin signs. _Nohr is cold in the winter, but it does not compare to—_

He makes a sign then that Leo does not recognize, beginning with the sign for “snow” that twists up and then down again into the sign for “castle.” Some kind of place name, Leo suspects. He’s not entirely sure.

“Compare to what?” Leo asks, signing along in question. He’s not as fast as Odin, but he’s fast enough. Not nearly as stiff and stilted as he had been when first learning, anyway. Odin has always been better with his hands.

Odin’s mouth drops into an “o” shape. He looks abashed, like Leo has caught him doing something he shouldn’t have. He continues anyway, a little slower than before, nearly hesitant.

_R-E-G-N-A-F-E-R-O-X_ , Odin signs. Then he makes that sign again, the one that combines “snow” and “castle.”

“I’ve never heard of Regna Ferox,” Leo says with a shake of his head, a tilt of his wrist. Odin can hear just fine; it’s just second nature for Leo to sign with him at this point.

_It’s far away from here,_ Odin says, which isn’t much of an answer at all. Leo has already figured that much. _It’s really cold there. Always snowing. The ground is covered in ice. My family never stayed for the real winter. Nohr isn’t as cold though. So the snow here doesn’t bother me._

It’s unusual for Odin to be so open about his family and his past. Leo chooses not to press his luck. It’s not his business anyway.

“I’ve never cared much for the cold,” Leo says. “It affects farmland, which affects the crop yield in the spring. And the autumn, when the frost sets in early.” Which is a headache at the best of times and a danger to Nohr’s less fortunate habitants in more dangerous years. Leo frowns. “Personally, I don’t quite enjoy getting slush in my boots either.”

_So you don’t ever build any snow forts?_ Odin asks. _Or fight comrades turned foe with snowballs?_

Leo snorts, though he knows it is very unbecoming of a prince. Odin has a way of making him drop his guard like that. “I’ll leave games to Elise, thank you. I’ll stay inside doing work. Where it’s warm.”

Odin’s chuckle is a soundless breath, a shaking of shoulders. He signs, _I will charm your boots tomorrow to keep the snow out._

“I can do that myself,” Leo says, but Odin doesn’t seem to be paying attention. He’s looking out the window. Leo looks too.

Leo has never heard Odin speak. He’s been told Odin could, once upon a time. Before he came into Leo’s service. Leo caught Laslow teasing Odin once before, speaking as if Odin used to give long, colorful speeches at the drop of a hat. When Laslow had seen Leo standing there, he’d ducked his head and closed his mouth, eyes downcast, like he’d let a secret slip. Leo hadn’t asked.

Odin still gives long, colorful speeches now. Just not with an audible voice. Leo does his best to listen anyway.

The window is closed, but Leo can still feel the chill radiating off the glass. He looks out across the castle grounds, at the vast blanket of white stretched out before them.

Niles is somewhere out there right now, likely already returning from the errand Leo had sent him on, trudging miserably through the freezing air to return. If Leo had known Odin cared for the snow more, he might have sent Odin out instead. Leo makes a mental note to allow them to trade jobs tomorrow.

A flutter of movement catches his eye. Leo looks over.

_When Niles returns, I can teach you two about the benefits of immortalizing yourselves in the snow,_ Odin says.

Leo is certain he means snow angels. “Absolutely not.”

_Consider this,_ Odin signs, and then his hands are lost in a flurry of movement, painting an endless pictures of battles they could fight against mythical winter beasts, wolves and monsters alike.  He describes their footprints in the snow, the sharp edge of the wind against their skin. Odin creates these images with his hands, though he lacks a brush. The scenes he depicts are so vivid Leo can practically see them anyway.

Leo has no interest in the snow or the cold. He has interest in Odin, however, and a few more moments of free time, so he stands and listens and pictures the scenes Odin creates. In it, Leo’s boots are charmed to keep the slush out. It’s a thought that makes Leo smile, despite the chill outside.

 

*

 

_“You did not believe these pathetic dolls to be **human** , did you?” _the voice of the dragon rumbles, a voice not unlike worms in the dirt. _“How foolish.”_

“Human?” Niles echoes, twin notes of curiosity and wariness in his voice. His bow is raised, the arrow nocked. His eye is trained on the dragon, but Leo can feel the curiosity practically wafting off him.

Leo feels much the same. He glances over to Odin, to where the three strange warriors who showed up in the throne room one day stand shoulder to shoulder. They all stare determinedly ahead, lips pressed together tightly.

When the dragon flexes one huge claw, his joints crack from disuse. And maybe something else. It is very important Leo keep his eye on the dragon lest it take advantage of Leo’s distraction, but he can’t tear his eyes away from Odin.

_“Pathetic things,”_ Anankos says. _“Baubles with a bit of magic. If you looked at the shelf now, I’m sure you can still see the shapes in the dust where they once sat.”_

The whites of Selena’s knuckles are showing. Odin has stood frozen since the moment the dragon began to speak, the only sign he is anything more than a statue being the subtle rise and fall of his chest with every breath.

_“Only one is of clockwork design. Nothing more than a music box trinket.”_

Laslow flinches like this means something. The thudding of Leo’s heart somehow gets louder. He only has eyes for Odin.

_“Puppets.”_ Anankos laughs. _“Merely puppets. These are the great warriors you have called upon to silence me?”_

This is the part where Leo expects Odin to shout something like, “Are riddles your only defense or are you ready to relinquish your life to us, foul beast?” But he doesn’t. He stands there, still as a statue, as the dragon’s breathing shakes the whole cavern. So it’s Leo who speaks instead.

“Will you do this the easy way,” Leo says loudly, projecting his voice as best he can. “or the hard way?”

He knows the answer. He has spells at the ready.

Anankos chuckles like this is amusing. The cavern shakes.

_“I assure you, little dolls.”_ Anankos’ eyes are huge and gleaming, and Leo can swear despite all appearances otherwise that the dragon is staring right at Odin, Laslow, and Selena. _“The only ones facing any hardship this day will be **you**.”_

Leo has no idea what Anankos means by these doll comments. Odin is as warm as anything under the sun, his flesh as soft as any living creature’s. Leo has felt it himself. There is no case of possession either, if the way Odin and the others face Anankos with weapons at the ready is any indication.

He does not know what Anankos means to gain from these vague taunts, but it matters not. Leo can ask about it later. He trusts Odin and Niles both with all his heart, and currently there is a dragon to be rid of.

“So be it,” Leo says.

The dragon rears back.

The fight begins.

 

*

 

While Owain is distracted with shoving as much molten hot fudge cake into his mouth at once, Leo casually reaches into his pocket and feels for the velvet box that waits for him there.

His pocket is empty.

Leo freezes.

“Did I ever tell you about how Noire would make desserts when we were kids,” Owain says after swallowing, a large smear of chocolate sauce on his lip. “and nobody else but me got to eat them because I’d name them for her?”

“You’ve mentioned,” Leo says stiffly, fingers curled around nothing in his pocket. He is suddenly hot under the collar for a new reason. He tries to subtly glance down at the floor to see if the box had dropped out of his pocket.

Of course, Owain notices. “Did you drop something?”

Leo mentally swears.

“No,” he says. He shifts his feet under the table, hoping to feel something. He finds only the table leg.

Owain hums around another forkful of cake. It isn’t that Owain has an incorrigible sweet tooth. Not any more than any other person, anyway. He doesn’t eat desserts very often, but Leo is familiar with how Owain eyes extravagant cake displays in the windows they occasionally pass.

Owain doesn’t eat desserts often, but he does enjoy them greatly. The restaurant they’re sitting is well known for its sweets, and that’s one reason Leo had reserved the table tonight. The box Leo has apparently misplaced is the other reason.

“Are you sure?” Owain asks as Leo catches himself glancing fruitlessly around again. Leo’s attention snaps back to him. “Because you look distracted.”

“I’m perfectly fine. Please, continue.”

Leo checks his other pocket, hoping he’s simply forgotten where he’s put the ring for a moment. That pocket is empty as well. Leo feels a migraine coming on.

Owain does not continue with either dessert or his story. Instead, he places his chin in his hand and looks much too amused for Leo’s health. There is still a bit of chocolate sauce on his lip.

“Are you trying to find the ring?” he asks.

Leo, who had been taking a slow sip of his water to calm himself down, chokes.

“W-what?” Leo sputters between coughs. “Ring? I don’t—”

He coughs some more into a napkin. Owain’s amusement finally bleeds into sympathy.

“You left it on the dresser,” Owain says kindly, though still wearing that lopsided smile. “I waited to see if you’d notice before we left, but you didn’t.”

Now Leo feels even more embarrassed than before, when he thought his misstep private. The room feels too warm. “And you didn’t think to tell me?”

“I didn’t want to ruin the surprise!” Owain says, clearly on the verge of laughing.

Leo pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation.

“It wasn’t a surprise if you already knew about it,” he says. “And I obviously planned on bringing it here, so it was ruined from the very moment I walked out the door without it.”

He’s annoyed at himself for forgetting the ring at home and annoyed Owain had noticed it in the first place. A momentary lapse in attention has brought Leo’s planning to naught.

“You have to admit, it’s a little funny.”

“It’s _not_ ,” Leo protests, a little put off.

“Hey, no, come on,” Owain says. Now the humor is gone from his voice, and he looks at Leo seriously, reaching across the table to lay his hand on top of Leo’s. “ _Nothing_ is ruined.”

Leo sighs. Owain’s fingers squeezing his hand in comfort is nice, yes, but it doesn’t negate the way Leo was kicking himself.

“You can still propose when we get back home,” Owain continues. “Or we can go out another time.”

He doesn’t suggest Leo try again at barbeque Camilla is hosting next weekend. Leo suspects Camilla has plans of her own then. Or perhaps Owain just knows Leo prefers a more private affair.

“I suppose,” Leo concedes after a moment. It’s hard to stay irritated when Owain is looking at him like that. Besides, there’s a comfort in knowing Owain had been expectant the entire time. Not that Leo had had any reason to worry in the first place, as he’d told himself before.

In any case, Owain looks pleased and Leo supposes dinner has been a night to remember after all. So not a total loss in the end.

“Owain,” Leo says.

“Yeah?”

“You’ve had chocolate on your face for five minutes now.”

Owain squawks. Leo’s huff turns into a smile.

 

*

 

“Leo,” Owain whimpers, eyes watery. “Do you still love me?”

Leo sighs. “Yes.”

“Really?” Owain curls in on himself even more, flopping over so his head his Leo’s shoulder. “Even though I’m going to live in agony for the rest of my life, twisting my view of reality until I become only a husk of my former self? Will you still love me then?”

“You got your braces tightened,” Leo says flatly. “You’ll feel normal tomorrow.”

Truthfully, perhaps Owain’s jaw will still feel a bit sore tomorrow, but that’s not exactly the end of the world. Owain has gotten his braces tightened before. He despaired like this every time.

Leo runs his tongue over his own teeth while Owain is distracted, feeling the smoothness there. He’d been lucky enough to get his own braces removed before meeting Owain, though he still wears his retainer at night. Owain had not been as lucky.

Seventeen is not an unusual age to have braces, but Owain still moans about the soreness after every tightening like a dying man.

Owain whimpers again. Leo wraps his arm around Owain’s shoulders without looking up from his book.

“Do you want some pudding?” he asks.

Owain perks up.

 

*

_Odin smiled, lax and indulgent, like Leo had never once told him that Leo had initially hated how Odin had been thrust upon him as a second retainer. Odin hadn’t noticed at the time, so maybe he didn’t consider it much, even after being told. Leo far from hated him now, in any case._

_“Of course we would get along in other worlds,” Odin said. He walked up to Leo’s desk and placed his hands on the wood, leaning forward to give Leo a quick peck on the mouth. No one else was around to see. “There is no world where you and I both exist and are not drawn to one another. And in every world we meet, we are always close. Two halves of a whole do not equate to animosity in any equation.”_

_So no matter the world, they would get along. How sweet._

_Of course, there was no way of proving such a thing true, but Leo liked the sound of it. He placed his hand on the back of Odin’s neck and pulled him in for a second gentle kiss._

_Odin pulled back, smiling. The sun shone through the window, lighting Odin from behind. “What brought this on, milord?”_

_“Nothing much,” Leo said, shaking his head. His mouth tingled where Odin’s lips had touched his. He brushed the prickly ends of Odin’s short hair with his fingertips. “Just a passing thought.”_

**Author's Note:**

> The lines from the "book" Leo reads in one of the above scenes are actually lines from a favorite musical of mine, Into the Woods. So not a real book. I thought Owain might still like it anyway though.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment below or hit me up on my [tumblr!](http://someobscurereference.tumblr.com/) I get a lot of FE14 meta and fic related asks there, so feel free to browse through my "asks" or "fe14" tag for some extra thoughts on my or your fellow readers' parts, or send in a question of your own if you had one. Thanks for reading!


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